Disk Boot Failure

[Alexis]

I'm having a serious problem here with my computer. It's been going on for almost a week. I'm having a problem with booting up my computer. I get the message on the black screen of a Disk Boot Failure. It worked fine yesterday, but I don't know what I did so that it worked. The computer is an EMachine and is about three and a half years old. When I go into the boot menu it shows that the Hard Drive is listed first, which isn't something that I set myself. When I select the CD/DVD drive to boot first, I press the Enter key, but it doesn't work, because it always returns to Hard Drive as being the first thing to boot. Is THIS the problem? The day before, Sunday, I found a disk with Unbuntu on it and was able to use it to access the internet to some degree like I am now. It's not installed, it's just a live disk. That's the only reason I'm able to be here today.

 

[Alexis]

A strange update. I wasn't able to boot with just Windows. I put in the Ubuntu disk and clicked on the option to boot with the Hard Drive. Somehow it worked. :thumbup At least for now. Windows couldn't help me, but Ubuntu could, on a Windows computer. :nod: Such a strange world.

 

[Alexis]

Same problem, different day. No answers?

 

[Alexis]

I'm still on Unpuntu Firefox. Nothing?

 

[Tuffdisc]

Don't you mean Ewwww machine

Do you know how to get into the BIOS?

 

[Zorak]

Don't you mean Ewwww machine

Do you know how to get into the BIOS?

She clearly does because she changed the boot preference order.

It is normal to have the hard disk set as number one boot preference; because that is where your OS is saved.

Could be the disk is failing, at three and a hlaf years old thats always a possibility. Could be windows has corrupted, a repair installation or start-up repair might fix that.

 

[Tuffdisc]

She clearly does because she changed the boot preference order.

It is normal to have the hard disk set as number one boot preference; because that is where your OS is saved.

Could be the disk is failing, at three and a hlaf years old thats always a possibility. Could be windows has corrupted, a repair installation or start-up repair might fix that.

Possible, but I have found out to my past experience on my old mobo, that it kept 'losing' a disk or two

Yeah, disks older than 3 years tend to do that....though not on my pc

 

[TommyTooter]

A strange update. I wasn't able to boot with just Windows. I put in the Ubuntu disk and clicked on the option to boot with the Hard Drive. Somehow it worked. :thumbup At least for now. Windows couldn't help me, but Ubuntu could, on a Windows computer. :nod: Such a strange world.

sweet cheeks, the computer is not a windows computer until you load windows on top of whoever's BIOS was provided as embedded (burnt into the motherboard) firmware. microsoft (R) windows (R) desktop operating system (TM) TADA.WAV(rr.com+nyuk-nyuk) is merely 'add-ons' comptiA+++>>/-0.01%safe? xSOFTWARE_PRODUCT* that is generally DEFECTIVE and FAILs often. % NEW PARAGRAPH! (that's to train my IBM ViaVoice OFFICE SUPERbba)

you must REINSTALL WINDOWS often/once a week/once a month/once a year depending on the age and performance ratings of your HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\hardware\msconfig.cfg hahahahahaha file not found. press alt + F4 to CLOSE PROGRAM

without going too overboard with that little ad-libbed messy dos HELP F1+MANUAL COMPOSEdddd!!00+~$billgatesisnotgod parody, welcome to linux land.

i just finally took the plunge and loaded ubuntu 10.10 without windows after the last catastrophic failure.

this one was finally my own fault.

i was getting too happy and i brought my fist down hard on the keyboard, wasting the hdd and cdrw. if you've never done it, bust that puppy open and give it a good blow job. all you'll need is a can or two of air, a small phillips screwdriver and a sable brush. dirt buildup is a major contributor to failures.

 

[Tuffdisc]

sweet cheeks, the computer is not a windows computer until you load windows on top of whoever's BIOS was provided as embedded (burnt into the motherboard) firmware. microsoft (R) windows (R) desktop operating system (TM) TADA.WAV(rr.com+nyuk-nyuk) is merely 'add-ons' comptiA+++>>/-0.01%safe? xSOFTWARE_PRODUCT* that is generally DEFECTIVE and FAILs often. % NEW PARAGRAPH! (that's to train my IBM ViaVoice OFFICE SUPERbba)

you must REINSTALL WINDOWS often/once a week/once a month/once a year depending on the age and performance ratings of your HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\hardware\msconfig.cfg hahahahahaha file not found. press alt + F4 to CLOSE PROGRAM

without going too overboard with that little ad-libbed messy dos HELP F1+MANUAL COMPOSEdddd!!00+~$billgatesisnotgod parody, welcome to linux land.

i just finally took the plunge and loaded ubuntu 10.10 without windows after the last catastrophic failure.

this one was finally my own fault.

i was getting too happy and i brought my fist down hard on the keyboard, wasting the hdd and cdrw. if you've never done it, bust that puppy open and give it a good blow job. all you'll need is a can or two of air, a small phillips screwdriver and a sable brush. dirt buildup is a major contributor to failures.

Re-install windows? A bit extreme and time consuming, not only to re-install Windows, but all the software and settings. This is only needed in extreme conditions, and disk boot failure maybe not when it is needed. It could be the mobo messing up the BIOS settings some times (like I experienced), it could just mean a loose cable to the hard drive

So, Alexis, until you find the root core of the problem, re-installing Windows is not the answer

 

[Alexis]

Here is what I've done so far. When the computer saw the Hard Drive, I ran the Start-up Repair.
"Startup Repair cannot repair this computer automatically"
Problem event name: StartupRepairV2
Problem Signature 1) External Media 2)
6.0.6006.16386.0.0.0.0
3)0
4)65537
5)unknown
6)no hard drive
7)0
8)0
9)unknown
10)1168

All of the above 1-10 were Problem Signatures.
I re-installed Windows. After re-starting a few times, it no longer worked.
I even formatted. I've never done that before, but I used the system disk, and it seemed to work. When I installed windows again, all of my programs that I've installed including music and video, were all gone. I DO have some backups on disks. Even after the format, which was last week, it didn't work either. If it was a software issue, that should have handled it, but it didn't.
Since the system has returned a few times it leads me to believe that my computer is not completely dead. The Ubuntu fix only worked one time.

 

[HK]

Can I recommend the time-honored method of setting fire to the damn troublesome thing and purchasing a mac?


I can't actually offer any advice here, it's been a while since I willing touched a PC, good luck with it though :ninja hope you find the solution.

 

[Tuffdisc]

Here is what I've done so far. When the computer saw the Hard Drive, I ran the Start-up Repair.
"Startup Repair cannot repair this computer automatically"
Problem event name: StartupRepairV2
Problem Signature 1) External Media 2)
6.0.6006.16386.0.0.0.0
3)0
4)65537
5)unknown
6)no hard drive
7)0
8)0
9)unknown
10)1168

All of the above 1-10 were Problem Signatures.
I re-installed Windows. After re-starting a few times, it no longer worked.
I even formatted. I've never done that before, but I used the system disk, and it seemed to work. When I installed windows again, all of my programs that I've installed including music and video, were all gone. I DO have some backups on disks. Even after the format, which was last week, it didn't work either. If it was a software issue, that should have handled it, but it didn't.
Since the system has returned a few times it leads me to believe that my computer is not completely dead. The Ubuntu fix only worked one time.

Linux will always have that option to 'install it live' though I haven't seen it in the current distro version

 

[Alexis]

Would anyone recommend that I just format the machine again and install Unbuntu as the OS? If the problem is hardware related, that won't solve the problem, will it? Fortunately, I do have the latest version, 10.10. I managed to download and burn it to a CD when the computer was working alright.

 

[Tuffdisc]

Would anyone recommend that I just format the machine again and install Unbuntu as the OS? If the problem is hardware related, that won't solve the problem, will it? Fortunately, I do have the latest version, 10.10. I managed to download and burn it to a CD when the computer was working alright.

For what it is worth, unless ubuntu is running the 'live' version from memory, then you won't be able to install ubuntu without it finding a hard drive

To me, when you say that 'when the computer is working alright', sounds to me that it maybe a mobo fault or the lead to the hard drive is loose and needs to be attached properly to the hard drive

 

[Alien Allen]

i would test the hard drive

maybe this site will help

 

[Alexis]

For what it is worth, unless ubuntu is running the 'live' version from memory, then you won't be able to install ubuntu without it finding a hard drive

To me, when you say that 'when the computer is working alright', sounds to me that it maybe a mobo fault or the lead to the hard drive is loose and needs to be attached properly to the hard drive

What do you mean by a mobo fault?

 

[Tuffdisc]

What do you mean by a mobo fault?

Motherboard fault, keeps losing the settings of your system, happened to me on my last motherboard:thumbup

 

[Alexis]

I personally think it's a hardware issue. I think it can be fixed, but I'm not sure. There could be something loose inside, or as Tommy mentioned, I may need to clean up the inside. I don't have any of those cans of air to do it, but hopefully a clean, dry, and lint-free something may help. Since it was brought back a few times, I don't think cleaning it will matter much. I just need the computer to see the hard drive again. I miss my computer. I miss my stuff. Mostly, I miss my music and video clips. Oh, and I miss my pictures, too.

 

[Tuffdisc]

I personally think it's a hardware issue. I think it can be fixed, but I'm not sure. There could be something loose inside, or as Tommy mentioned, I may need to clean up the inside. I don't have any of those cans of air to do it, but hopefully a clean, dry, and lint-free something may help. Since it was brought back a few times, I don't think cleaning it will matter much. I just need the computer to see the hard drive again. I miss my computer. I miss my stuff. Mostly, I miss my music and video clips. Oh, and I miss my pictures, too.

You can do it with a vacuum cleaner, though make sure that you have those extension things so as not to get the actual vacuum cleaner near your computer

 

[Alexis]

I made a major mistake a few days back, i think. I attempted to partition the hard drive when it was working. I tried to install Ubuntu on the second partition. That may have made the situation worse. I need a way for the computer to see the hard drive again so I can format the machine and install either Windows or Ubuntu. I'm leaning towards Windows.